Reporting Bugs

Found a bug in PC-BSD? If so, please take the time to read through the following guide first, to ensure that your bug gets reported to the correct group and is resolved in a timely fashion.

Determining the type of bug

The first thing to determine is the type of bug you encountering. Is this a bug getting PC-BSD installed & running properly (System Bugs), or is this an issue with an installed software package such as FireFox (Application Bugs). After making that determination, please continue reading the appropriate section.

Application Bugs

An application bug can fall into a few different categories listed below:

Application Packaging Bug

The first is a packaging bug, which is when you cannot install or an application simply crashes on startup (I.E> Can't run at all). For these types of bugs, please report them on our Trac Database and for the Type, select "PBI Packaging Bug". Please provide as much detail as possible about the bug, such as:

Name of Program

Where the program was downloaded from

What version of PC-BSD you are running

What architecture you are using (32bit or 64bit)

Detailed description of the bug, including the crash logfile if generated

Application Runtime Bug

An application runtime bug is a when an application installs and is able to start-up successfully, but during the usage of the application, it crashes or displays some other type of undesired behavior. An example would be OpenOffice failing to import a type of document properly or am IM client unable to keep a connection to a network, etc. These types of bugs are usually best reported to the developers of the application at fault. The best way to locate them is by searching for your application on www.pbidir.com, then clicking the "Vendor" link. Most software sites have a "bug report" link, or way to contact the original developer to report your issue.

System Bugs

A system bug is any bug which prevents the initial install of PC-BSD, issues with hardware, and things of that nature. Some examples would be a non-bootable system, failed installation, missing drivers for your hardware, or a non-functional desktop after installation. To report this type of issue, please follow the instructions below for your specific bug:

Driver Bugs

An example of a driver bug would be a missing network driver, no sound output, no disk drives detected, etc. Most of these types of issues are directly related to the FreeBSD base which PC-BSD is built from, and as such are often best fixed by discussing with the FreeBSD team directly. Reporting a bug to FreeBSD can be done via the Send PR page, however it is good to ask about specific problems via the mailing lists as well. Often other users have already discovered a bug, or have a work-around for your particular hardware. Below are some of the appropriate mailing lists, and what they relate to: